Atheistic Hypothetical Theism.

[Borachio]

My feeling is that the real world is so bizarrely strange already, there's not much point in metaphysical speculaton. I appreciate your hypotheticals, though. I do much the same.

Walking on water? That's easy. All you've to do is persuade every water molecule under your feet to point in the right direction and you can walk on it. Or you could just freeze the lake over, or something.

Feeding the five thousand? Just shame the crowd into revealing the packed lunches they've secreted about their persons.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I appreciate the answer. Not that I have been holding my breath.

Was reading this old thread, found the question, thought I'd answer it.

Is it foolish to have little Ziggy's running around or humanity in general?

It is foolish for Ziggy to have little Ziggies running around. I can hardly manage cats.

 

[warpus]

My feeling is that the real world is so bizarrely strange already, there's not much point in metaphysical speculaton. I appreciate your hypotheticals, though. I do much the same.

Walking on water? That's easy. All you've to do is persuade every water molecule under your feet to point in the right direction and you can walk on it. Or you could just freeze the lake over, or something.

Feeding the five thousand? Just shame the crowd into revealing the packed lunches they've secreted about their persons.

I find those things far easier to explain by way of "stories that get passed down via oral tradition and then written down, translated, etc. end up looking not much like the original event. Throw religion into the mix, and stories like that tend to get embellished to make them appear more amazing... and you end up with stuff like people walking on water.

I mean, we have people walking on water today. Or rather running, I suppose. Whatever they do, that's how those stories get started. Much easier to explain those things this way than by attempting to figure out how a man could actually go for a stroll on water.

 

[Borachio]

That's certainly true. I heard the other day about how the stones that Jesus used to "walk on water" are still visible today.

 

[timtofly]

Was reading this old thread, found the question, thought I'd answer it.
It is foolish for Ziggy to have little Ziggies running around. I can hardly manage cats.

When reading a thread over again, does it ever "read" differently from the first time you read it and posted in it, or does that phenomenon just happen to me?

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Yes it does. First time I'm participating, second I'm reading it without in the back of your mind formulating my next post.

Also quite embarressing sometimes

 

[Borachio]

I always suspect some unknown person keeps changing my posts just to make me look even more foolish.

I see one of mine, and I say "Did I write that! No. No way was that me! Was it? Please say it wasn't."

 

[warpus]

Yeah, past warpus has silly views at times. I usually let future warpus deal with him.

 

[Oruc]

I wish more people accepted that we're only alive once, and that we only have limited time here. I think a lot more would get done! That and I think people would be more kind.

They'd have even less reason to care.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Explain.

 

[Oruc]

Explain.

Well if there's no purpose to be found, no relation to the eternal the only thing left is to seek a meaningful death.

 

[timtofly]

I have met some alleged Christians who do not have the "reason to care" gene.

 

[El_Machinae]

Well if there's no purpose to be found, no relation to the eternal the only thing left is to seek a meaningful death.

You'd be surprised how often theists say things like this to us

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Well if there's no purpose to be found, no relation to the eternal the only thing left is to seek a meaningful death.

I still don't understand.

What if I enjoy life?

 

[Borachio]

"To seek death is to seek nothing". Meaningful or not.

 

[Oruc]

You'd be surprised how often theists say things like this to us

Why would I be surprised? I used to be an atheist.

 

[El_Machinae]

You're correct, it was an assumption on my part that you'd be surprised.

Colloquially the expression means "yeah, we hear that a lot"

 

[Tahuti]

I wish more people accepted that we're only alive once, and that we only have limited time here. I think a lot more would get done! That and I think people would be more kind.

Depends on the kind of person: Undoubtedly there are individuals who see this as a reason to try it out to kill someone just for trying.

 

[Oruc]

You're correct, it was an assumption on my part that you'd be surprised.

Colloquially the expression means "yeah, we hear that a lot"

Right, but so what? I heard it as well.

 

[timtofly]

I don't understand the "God is unchanging" part. If he never changes, how can he make decisions.. and do stuff? Wouldn't that call for a change in his inner makeup? If he doesn't change - wouldn't that be like a rock..? What could a rock do?

(imagine for a second that the rock is not changing at the quantum scale)

The theory behind this is that God is eternal. Change is the linear time within a subset of eternity. This time has a beginning and an end. God already existed at the end of this time, and even though God's existence inter-acted with the existence within this subset, God never changed.

Aw, I must have missed that. Carry on than

I miss this poster.